Ep 020 - 5 Key Differences Between Christian Fasting and Intermittent Fasting

Apr 2

Explore the fascinating intersection of faith and wellness in podcast episode 020, where we dive into the differences, similarities, and overlap of Christian Fasting and Intermittent Fasting.

Discover the rich traditions that inspire these practices, understand their core motives, and learn how they uniquely shape our schedules, dietary choices, and overall lifestyle. Whether you're seeking spiritual depth or health benefits, this episode offers enlightening insights into how fasting can transform not just the body, but the spirit and soul.

Join us on a journey from fasting's ancient roots to its modern-day applications. Find out how these diverse practices can inspire a holistic approach to health and spirituality.

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Show Transcript

Note: Podcast transcripts are automatically generated and may contain some errors. The transcript below has been lightly edited for grammar and readability, so may not match the podcast audio verbatim.

020 Christian Fasting vs Intermittent Fasting - What's Different?

If you look at Google trends and search the term intermittent fasting, you'll see pretty much a flat line for the first decade of the two thousands. But then around 2016, this term really starts to pick up speed and peaks in the 2019-2020 timeframe. And with intermittent fasting, we're talking about fasting for health and weight loss, but you might wonder what about spiritual fasting, specifically Christian fasting?

How are these the same? How are they different and how do they perhaps overlap? We're going to cover five key differences between intermittent fasting and Christian fasting in this episode.

Welcome to the Wholly Well Journey podcast. I'm your host, Stephanie Hodges. Join us for weekly faith based conversations on holistic health to uncover practical tips for how to thrive and apply biblical wisdom to our busy modern lives. From fitness to food to fasting, we're here to discover what it means to have a healthy spirit, soul, and body.

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Well, this is episode 20 of the Wholly Well Journey podcast. And I just want to thank you so much for your support and your supporting just by listening. And if you can subscribe to the podcast and leave a written review, or just tap the stars and let us know what you think that would be so helpful. And it's so much appreciated because whenever you start anything new, there's always a huge learning curve.

There are bumps in the road, and there's trial and error. And so we're finally starting to find a little bit of a groove and just what podcasting is. And Hey, we would love to hear from you what topics you would like to hear more of, or maybe, um, things that are of interest to you. And you can email me at info@stephaniechodges.com and let us know what you'd like to hear more of on the podcast. And chances are that by the time you're listening to this, we have just released our latest devotional called Firm Foundation. And so we're going to do a little mini-series here on Christian fasting. And this from foundation devotional is a 21 day prayer and fasting guide.

That's all about Jesus. Over three weeks, this devotional covers, first of all, what Jesus said about fasting and how he fasted. The second week, we study seven names of Jesus that help us to understand him better. Week three is all about establishing our victory in Christ. Every day includes scripture readings, a brief devotional, a practical fasting tip, and journaling questions.

You can go to Amazon or Daniel, fast journey.com for more.

Now in this episode, we're going to set some groundwork for the practice of fasting and look at five key differences between intermittent fasting for health and for physical benefits. And Christian fasting for spiritual purposes. Because if you are Googling information about how to fast, it can quickly become confusing because you're going to find all kinds of different perspectives.

Fasting Definitions

Some of them are coming from a scientific and a secular perspective. Some of them are coming from various religious traditions. And so it can be hard to sort out what fasting means, but let's start with some really simple definitions. And the most simple definition that applies in either case is that fasting means voluntarily abstaining from food for a designated period of time. So that means not starvation because it's voluntary. It's not disordered eating. And it's not necessarily skipping breakfast or forgetting to eat lunch because you're busy no.

Fasting is intentional and purposeful. In abstaining from food. So diving a little bit deeper into these definitions. Intermittent fasting is a dietary practice that alternates between periods of eating and fasting. Also called feasting and fasting. And it doesn't specify what foods to eat, but rather when you should eat them, another term for this practice is time restricted eating, which is abbreviated as TRE. So common methods include the daily fast, like the 16:eight, where you fast for 16 hours and eat within an eight-hour window. Or a 5:2 fasting window where you're fasting for 24 hours twice per week. And sometimes that's done on two consecutive days. And the primary goal of intermittent fasting is improving physical health.

A big one would be weight loss. Improving metabolic health involves improving insulin sensitivity and metabolic flexibility. It's even been shown to potentially increase longevity. So fasting is a structured approach to eating, and it can vary in duration and frequency, depending on the person's goal and preferences. Biblical fasting is a spiritual discipline practiced within the Christian faith.

Similarly, involving abstaining from food, drink, or both for a period of time. As a means of deepening one's relationship with God. And if we dig a little bit deeper into the Hebrew and Greek words using Strongs and other Bible study tools. We can see exactly what this means when it's used in a biblical context.

And we talk more about this in one of our most popular blog posts. That's called Types of Christian fast in the Bible. And we'll be sure to link to that in the show notes. In the old Testament, the Hebrew word for fasting it's tsum, and it means to cover over the mouth. To abstain from food and the primary idea lies in the mouth being shut. So this is the biblical definition we're talking about.

It's talking about. The mouth is shut. It's not taking in any food. And I think there's something to be said in this idea of just consuming in general, it's taking a break from what we're consuming. It's a time for silence and reflection and internal focus. And there are numerous examples of fasting scriptures in the Old Testament. One would be in Judges 20:26. which says that “all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came to Bethel, and they wept and remained there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening. And they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.”

And this was in a battle situation where they needed strategy and that's why they were going and seeking the Lord. And then another famous example would be Esther chapter four, verse 16. Where she's telling Mordecai, “Go gather all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I am.

My attendance also will fast in the same way. And then I will go into the king, which is not in accordance with the law. And if I perish, I perish.

In the New Testament, we have the Greek word nestuo. which has defined us to abstain as a religious exercise from food and drink either entirely if the fast lasted, but a single day or from customary and choice nourishment, if it continued several days, And we see, of course. That before he started public ministry, Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights.

It tells us this in Matthew 4:2.

And then we also see after Jesus' death and resurrection, that the apostles continued in fasting. For example, Acts Chapter 13, verse 2, talks about the prophets and teachers at the church in Antioch. And Saul, who's also called Paul, is also there. And verse two says while they were serving the Lord and fasting, the holy spirit said set Barnabas and Saul apart for me, for the work to which I have called them. In verse three, it goes on to say, then when they had fasted, prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So we see that the New Testament church is continuing the practice of regular fasting, accompanied with prayer.

And that's one of the biggest differences when we're talking about fasting from a spiritual perspective is that it's not just a dietary exercise, fasting and prayer always go hand in hand together.

And fasting in the Bible is undertaken for other reasons.

It's often a response to mourning it's for spiritual renewal guidance and intercession and repentance. And so unlike intermittent fasting, the focus of biblical fasting is on spiritual growth and reflection. And we can also see this fasting done individually or collectively during significant religious periods or in response to some personal or communal challenges. So biblical fasting can be something that we do corporately with the body, with the church. Or it can be something that we decide to do on our own. But the big difference is that it emphasizes reliance on God, rather than just merely doing without food. So now let's talk about five key areas of difference between intermittent fasting. And Christian fasting as a spiritual discipline.

Difference #1 - Tradition and Inspiration

The first is the tradition and inspiration for fasting, which, of course, we're already touching on—just by the definition.

But intermittent fasting in the modern wellness landscape is typically championed by doctors, nutritionists, and biohackers, although not across the board when it comes to doctors in the medical community, it's a product of scientific research and inquiry into the areas of human health and longevity and weight loss.

That's where a lot of this interest has risen in recent decades has been by some major best-selling books by various scientists and medical doctors. But it didn't just start in the past decade. Fasting has been around for hundreds and thousands of years; even many we'll reference that it was popular

with ancient Greek philosophers, like Plato and Aristotle, who fasted. It said that Plato fasted for greater physical and mental efficiency. You might also be familiar with the American author Samuel Clemens. Who's better known as Mark Twain. A quote from him is that a little starvation can really do more for the average sick man than can the best medicines and the best doctors. And so we're talking hundreds, even thousands of years ago, people were noticing this pattern of abstaining from food and regular fasting and what it did for mental clarity and physical health. But maybe, like me, you started fasting for the first time because your pastor and church designate certain times of year to fast. In Christianity, fasting days during Lent and throughout the year are common.

Recently, fasting has really seen a boom in popularity in January as a way to start the year. It can help align priorities, and that's very popular in evangelical circles.

But another motivation or impetus for fasting might be that you've just simply seen it in the Bible.

And we have a blog post with over 55 scriptures on fasting, where you can see both how Jesus fasted, what he said about fasting.

And along with examples through the Old and New Testaments.

Difference #2 - Primary Motive for Fasting

The second difference to examine is the primary motive for fasting. And Christian fasting is intrinsically spiritual. It's an act of faith. It's aimed at drawing closer to God, seeking divine guidance, and nurturing your spiritual health. And in this temporary time, fasting is about denying your physical comforts to focus on prayer, repentance, and spiritual renewal. On the other hand, intermittent fasting can just be part of a rhythm for life. That's grounded in physical health and wellness goals. It's embraced because somebody might need to lose weight.

They're looking to burn fat to improve metabolic health and insulin sensitivity. To enhance brain function, or maybe they're drawn to the longevity and cognitive benefits. But the truth is that we are a spirit, soul and body, and we can't cleanly split and separate out those aspects of our being.

So it's not like I can say, well, I'm not going to worry about my body at all. I'm only fasting spiritually. You're going to feel the effects in all areas. And you might fast primarily for spiritual reasons, but still find physical benefits.

Likewise. I've heard many people from a secular standpoint who are fasting for physical benefits. But they talk about how they feel more clearheaded and energetic when they fast. And if they have something big going on, a big interview or a big public speaking engagement, they'll intentionally fast for the clarity they get from that. Now, here's an interesting quote from Elizabeth Jonestown. She wrote a book called Practical Methods for Self-development in 1904.

So we're talking over a hundred years ago. Here's your quote:

Released from the old daily grind of disposing of three meals, the digestive system learns to use that day of freedom for cleaning out the corners. Just as you take occasion to clean things out, what fullness of joy there is in a clean uncrowded place to live in how much happy you are when things are clean. And you will find by careful and persistent experience that a weekly body cleaning gives far greater returns than an outward house cleaning.

So again, without the scientific research that we have in our day and age, people were seen as common sense and practical advice. The advantages of fasting.

Another resource from around the same time was a book called The Fasting Cure, which was published in 1911 by Upton Sinclair. And it's about the benefits of fasting for curing diseases and various medical ailments. And so remember that obesity wasn't a widespread issue at this time, yet people were still interested in fasting for the therapeutic medical benefits that they saw from it.

So if you're fasting as a Christian discipline, while all these physical benefits are great…

How can you ensure that you're not sidetracked and that you keep this motivation for spiritual fasting? I think that's just primarily a question of focus. If you're seeking God, if you're looking to the Bible before, during, and after your fast, then that's going to shape your perspective.

That's going to be your primary driver, your primary motivation, and we'll address that some more in 0.5. But for now, let's move on to the key difference. Number three, and that's the fasting schedule.

Difference #3 Fasting Schedule - Duration and Frequency of Fasting

What is the length and duration of the fast? In exploring the schedules of Christian fasting and intermittent fasting, you'll see a contrast in structure and flexibility. Christian fasting.

It isn't always bound by a strict timetable, although it might be in certain traditions, but its occurrence is often dictated by your personal spiritual needs by liturgical seasons on the calendar, or by collective prior initiatives within a community. And that can offer a more flexible approach that aligns with spiritual rhythms and events so that you're not always fasting all the time. But at specific points throughout the year. And then, there can also be a spontaneous call to fast because of a prayer request that arises or because of a certain situation that you're encountering in your life where you feel you need a breakthrough. And you feel it's maybe an issue of spiritual warfare or something to dig into. And so those can be all on the individual level, or it might be that your pastor or your church leader calls for a season of corporate fasting.

Some Christian traditions have maintained more structured, fast and calendars over time. For example, the Orthodox Church has fasting seasons for the nativity. For what they call great Lent and holy week. And then there's an Apostle's fast in June that last for a period of time. And then there are other fast days throughout the year. Now there's also a very small book called the Didache, which is the teaching of the 12 apostles that was written in the first century.

These teachings of the apostles directed Christians to fast on the fourth and sixth days of the week, which would be Wednesday and Friday.

And they were saying every week, fasting two days a week, which was also a prior tradition. If you remember that parable in Luke chapter 18, where the Pharisee is bragging and boasting, talking about how he fasts twice a week. So, to fast forward through the book from the apostles, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, observed this practice. And for a period, he required all ordain ministers to do the same this Wednesday and Friday fast. Wesley put together a liturgical book called The Sunday Service of the Methodist. And it mandated fasting and abstinence on all Fridays of the year. With one exception, except for Christmas Day, if it falls on a Friday.

So there was that exception put in there, but that was for all people of the faith. And that would be a partial fast fasting from meat. And just to jump back again with the Orthodox church or with a practice like lent. Fasting is not necessarily a water only fast during those seasons, but it's partial fasting, abstaining from certain types of foods. Be the alcohol vinegar. Meat and animal products like eggs and dairy and sweets and yeast breads and things like that.

Now in our modern churches, these types of regulations have typically become a little less rigid over time. Although many are still observing fasting and partial fasting, especially during seasons like Lent, which is the 40 days preceding Easter. But on the other hand, intermittent fasting operates on a more systematic schedule.

It's more of a lifestyle habit with defined eating and fasting windows that you're repeating daily or weekly. And this regularity will help you optimize the physical health outcomes that you're getting from fasting. Because when we're talking about these studies and what they're looking at, they're talking about people who are fasting in a certain pattern for a certain length of time.

Technically, we're all fasting overnight. So it could start by having a 12-hour fast every day. That means not eating until dinner and maybe delaying your breakfast slightly. Then you can continually bump it back from 12 hours to 13 hours to 14 hours a day—fasting and 10 hours of eating. But here are three really popular methods.

3 Popular Intermittent Fasting Methods

16:8 Fasting

One is the 16:8, which is also called the lean gains protocol. This method involves fasting for 16 hours each day and then having an eight-hour eating window. So, for example, somebody might eat from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM or noon to 8:00 PM. And this is pretty simple. It's easy for some people, though not for everyone.

5:2 Fasting or Fast Diet

The 5:2 diet, also known as the Fast Diet, involves eating normally five days of the week and then reducing your intake to 500 to 600 calories on two non-consecutive days. So like Monday and Thursday, for example.

24-Hour - One Meal a Day (OMAD) or Eat-Stop-Eat

Then there is the eat-stop-eat method, which involves a 24-hour fast once or twice a week.

And this is also known as the one meal a day or OMAD for short method. And that might mean if you eat dinner on Tuesday. You don't eat again until past that time of a total 24 hours the next day. That's a straightforward method, but it can be challenging because it's a longer fasting period. And honestly, all of these methods are challenging.

They can be difficult to adhere to.

And that's one reason people criticize this as a long-term health and weight loss method is that it's just not sustainable or they would say it's really, the main thing that it's doing is restricting your overall calories, which you could also do regardless of when you eat.

But that debate aside for now, let's move on to the fourth difference between intermittent fasting and Christian fasting, which is the dietary restriction.

Difference #4 Dietary Restrictions

What exactly are you eating and not eating? Well, as we just covered in those popular methods of intermittent fasting, it's not really about what you eat. It's about when you eat. But there are some nuances. In Christian fasting, you can do different types of fasting. As we talked about, some might be abstaining from specific foods and drinks.

That would be a form of partial fasting. Some people do a liquid fast or the Daniel fast, which is a very popular form of partial fasting in which you eat only plant-based foods. But the traditional complete fast that we see in the Bible involves abstaining from food and drinking only water.

Intermittent fasting is primarily focused on achieving a metabolic state where your body is using ketones for energy and maintaining lower blood glucose levels. So that means people who are really dedicated to intermittent fasting, they're going to be testing their ketones and their blood glucose, which you can do through, you know, a little finger prick monitor or a continuous glucose monitor that attaches to the back of the arm. And so they may allow for the consumption of certain foods or beverages, as long as they don't disrupt those metabolic markers, as long as they're not taking their body out of ketosis, or they're not raising their insulin too high.

Along with this, we have the concept of dirty fasting versus clean fasting. Now, dirty fasting is not an official definition, but it's a common term floating around in health and wellness circles. Clean fasting would be water only and non-caloric beverages like black coffee or tea. Although purists would tell you water-only fasting is best, dirty fasting allows for some calorie intake during your fasting window.

Typically, this involves things like having heavy cream in coffee or tea, bone broth, avocados, and non-starchy vegetables, but these should be very limited in amount. The intake of protein and calories should also be limited, as should carbohydrates and sugar.

And the reason why people would do this as simply to make it more bearable during that fasting time by intaking, a little bit of healthy fats. They're able to prolong their time fasting.

But even though intermittent fasting isn't specifically about what you eat. Most people who do this as a lifestyle will tell you that what you eat makes a significant difference in your ability to sustain it over time. Because you're eating during a shorter window, you do want to make sure you're eating healthy foods, just for the sake of your body, that you're getting enough fiber and you're getting enough micronutrients and vitamins and minerals.

And a protein during that time so that you don't start breaking down and losing muscle.

But in addition to that many intermittent faster stick to a more ketogenic diet. A keto diet is higher in fat, moderate protein, and very low in carbohydrates, with 5% of your calories from carbohydrates. This helps to regulate your blood sugar, keep you in ketosis, and balance out those hormones that are involved with hunger, satiety, and eating. Because if you go from eating a lot of sugar and simple carbohydrates and processed foods that spike your insulin, then you try to go into a fasted state. It's going to be really miserable.

It's going to be really challenging and hard. And so even if you're fasting for spiritual reasons, that's something to take note of if you are going to have a regular fasting lifestyle to be really moderate in your intake of sweets and simple carbs and consider, especially when you're leading up to a fast, putting your body in a good state to fast.

So, we can do more of a deep dive into the physiology of intermittent fasting and how your body is affected in another episode.

But I did want to mention this because if you're starting to look around for information about fasting, It might get a little bit confusing. Am I really only supposed to just have water or does a water fast mean I can drink coffee or I can drink broth?

Well, we also have an episode about how to get started with fasting, but the main advice is that if you're fasting, you want to be intentional and decide ahead of time what you're going to include and what you're not going to include. And if you're brand new to fasting. It may be that you fast for shorter times, in the beginning, shorter time periods. And that you do more of a modified fast and then, over time, build up your endurance and your capacity for more extensive, fast, and more restrictive fast.

So the last difference, the last point we're going to touch on, is lifestyle.

Difference #5 - Fasting Lifestyle

How does fasting affect your lifestyle? Intermittent fasting could be done for shorter period of time. But if it's a long-term strategy, you'll find that you're working your exercise and social engagements around your fasting schedule. And you're also going to want to do more research into all the nuances that we mentioned above. Christian fasting can be a regular part of our lifestyle, but it's not a constant day-to-day thing.

It's part of a spiritual rhythm. It's a seasonal practice. And maybe you don't fast two days every week, but you choose to fast one day a week. Or we have an online community at Daniel Fast Journey that is once a month, every first Wednesday. And then we do a longer fast in January and at the beginning of the fall, But Christian fasting again is about more than food.

It's a dedicated time of seeking the Lord. So incorporating other spiritual disciplines and making time for prayer, Bible reading, worship, and meditation is paramount. It's really so important. As we fast, we're turning away from the world. We're emptying ourselves out. We're covering the mouth.

We're very conscious about what we're taking in and consuming, both in food and in media and entertainment. Instead, as we empty ourselves out and turn to God, we want to fill ourselves with spiritual nourishment, and that comes from the word of God.

So in our groups, people sometimes feel defeated because they're so busy and they're struggling to find the time to spend with God, and they're doing the fast, but they're just like, I didn't have as much time as I thought.

As I wanted to spend time with the Lord. I would just encourage you to think about quality time. If you have quantity time, if you have a lot of time, that's great. But if you only have a short amount of time, make sure that it's full of intention and purpose. And don't allow yourself to feel guilt or condemnation about that.

God sees your heart and he sees what you have going on. And he's going to honor your efforts. The goal of fasting isn't about willpower and it isn't about gaining all this control over our schedules and over our prayer outcomes.

It's really about drawing closer to God and depending on him more and humbling ourselves.

So I hope you enjoy this and we'll be diving more deeply into various aspects of fasting in the coming episodes.

So make sure to go subscribe so you don't miss any. Also be sure to check out the firm foundation devotional.

Visit https://www.danielfastjourney.com for more

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Stephanie Hodges